Raja Sabha MP WR Kharlukhi predicts absolute majority for Meghalaya NPP in 2028

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Nov 1: Former NPP state president and lone Rajya Sabha MP Dr WR Kharlukhi on Tuesday predicted that the National People’s Party (NPP) will get an absolute majority in 2028.

“I don’t doubt that you write it today that if everything goes well, we will get absolute majority in 2028,” Dr Kharlukhi told reporters soon after handing over charge to the newly appointed state president Prestone Tynsong here.

Currently, NPP is the single largest political party with 26 MLAs in the 60-member House.

On his decision to request the party to relieve him from the post, the Rajya Sabha MP said that 16 years is long enough for him to continue as the state president.

“What I used to believe is that at a certain point of time, we have to share the responsibility. I think 16 years is long enough. I am very happy that at least from the beginning in this party, when we first started it and I do remember we loss miserably in 2013, we got God’s Blessing and we have reached this level. I am a very happy man,” he said.

Thanking the NPP national president for accepting his request, Dr Kharlukhi said that Prestone Tynsong is the right person for the post of state president.

“Prestone is the right person. He is a veteran of many battles and I don’t see that there is any problem and I am very sure under his leadership the party will go from strength to strength,” he said. He also termed the party’s achievement as God’s blessing.

“We always believe that what we are doing is God’s Blessing. As humans, we did our level best but I always remember that whatever I did is because of God’s Blessing.”

Further, Dr Kharlukhi said that he is not keen to contest the Lok Sabha elections. “I never had a thought also for Lok Sabha plus I do believe we need young leaders. Also three years from now I will be 70 so I think I am too old a dog for that,” he said.

He also recalled how he turned down the offer to be Rajya Sabha MP in 2008 and said, “I was just talking to chief minister that somehow he could convince me (this time to be Rajya Sabha MP) and I took it as a blessing from God because when I got my daughter also got for her PG there so it is both ways. I thank the party for that and just now I said I had decided on my career in 1988 so that time I could not get what I wanted so I thought politics is no but again I am back in politics.”

On his role in the NPP now, Dr Kharlukhi said, “My role as MP is quite a big role. I have to travel throughout the state so I think the party is doing me good because as I said travelling as MP is one way but travelling as MP and state president is two ways. I told that Tynsong is much younger than me so he will be quite active. I know at his age I know what we can do.”

Court to decide on relocation from Sweepers’ Colony

Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar has informed that the state government has filed an affidavit before the Meghalaya High Court with regards to the proposal for relocating the 342 families of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.
Dhar told reporters today that now the matter is left to the court to decide.

The minister said that the government will also sit in a few days and take a call on the matter.

According to him, this was after the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) had rejected the government’s proposal to relocate the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

Dhar however said that the government will always welcome the HPC if they want to discuss the matter.

On April 24, the Meghalaya High Court had deferred the hearing on the issue to June 7.

The order was passed by the division bench based on the request made by the state government and the HPC during the hearing held here.
The government had come up with a blueprint after rejecting the April 25,2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.

In its recent 6-page reply sent to the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Meghalaya and other concerned departments, the HPC had alleged that the government’s proposal was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”

The HPC had also stated in its reply that “There are serious lacunae, sweeping and undesirable conclusions in the approach and attitude of the High-Level Committee of the Meghalaya government.”

“We are absolutely devastated that since the formation of the new government, ministers, MLAs and certain groups have been making unnecessary remarks saying that the whole issue would be resolved within the month of April. What magical trick do they have up their sleeve to resolve the issue within days? The matter is sub-judice and they are only paying lip service to respect for the judiciary. We will not buckle under political duress,” it had also added.

HPC calls govt blueprint ‘unacceptable’

In a hard-hitting reply, sent today to the Government of Meghalaya’s blueprint for relocation of residents of Punjabi Lane, Shillong, the Harijan Panchayat Committee after multiple rounds of consultation with its members, has stated that the proposal of the government was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”

In an exhaustive 6-page reply sent to the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Meghalaya and to other concerned departments, the HPC letter reads, “There are serious lacunae, sweeping and undesirable conclusions in the approach and attitude of the High-Level Committee of the Meghalaya government.”

“We have attended meetings of the government in good faith but the government is resorting to misinformation and disinformation through the media and at the meetings, the only attitude is to overawe us into submission to their proposal. The language of the political leadership is one of intimidation. They are putting our lives and properties at risk and making us vulnerable,” said HPC secretary Gurjit Singh.

The HPC has strongly alleged that the “entire exercise is an ill-founded relocation theory, which actually compels the resident citizens of the Punjabi Lane (Harijan Colony) to forego their rights, title and interest over whatever small land portion in the colony and to accept the prisons cells like accommodation being offered in the proposed Blueprint.”

Speaking to the media, HPC secretary Gurjit Singh reiterated that, “our original demands presented in the “Eight-point resolution” still stand and we will not buckle under political duress merely because it is convenient for the government to do so and simply because due to passage of time, the land has become a commercial goldmine.”

The Harijan Panchayat Committee which, despite all odds, has been spearheading a battle for rights of the residents since the last three decades, has in its detailed reply to the government said that the disputed land belongs to the Syiem of Mylliem, and not to the government and any attempt by the government to buy it is violative of the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act.

With reference to the recent incident of 31 May 2018, the HPC has stated that “taking advantage of a stray case of discord, suddenly the “relocation theory” was resurfaced for political and vested interests. We have all the official documentation necessary to live as citizens at our ancestral land in Punjabi Lane.

The letter pointed out gaping holes in the government’s blueprint -area too small and proposed houses pigeonholes, official building guidelines violated, no roadmap of demolition of present structures, no public amenities and last but not the least no specification of title to the land and the houses.

“There are so many grey areas and gaps. The government must clarify about all such concerns and only then it can be taken up for consideration by the Harijan Panchayat Committee, without prejudice to our right to reject the proposal” stated Gurjit Singh while speaking to media personnel.

Deriding the government’s haste, the HPC remarked, “It has been held by the Supreme Court of India and other courts as well that the right to lead a dignified life is an inalienable right and provisions of housing cannot be such that it is inhabitable for residents to live there. In the light of such judicial pronouncements, the residents are entitled to a better resolution.”

In an earnest appeal to the government and people of Meghalaya, Gurjit Singh said, “the government must stop the witch hunt and allow us to build our houses and we can assure that the beauty of the area will be fully maintained and for this the residents have the full support of the Sikh community.”

“The residents of Punjabi Lane want to live with honour and dignity at the land of their forefathers and it would be improper to treat them as aliens. The solution to this should be peaceful, amicable, mutual and permanent, without trampling on our fundamental rights,” he added.

Them Iew Mawlong: HPC waiting for govt’s call

The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has said that they are waiting for the state government to call for a meeting to discuss the issue related to the relocation of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.

“We are waiting for the government’s call,” HPC secretary Gurjit Singh said.

He however refused to indicate if the committee would submit its reply on the government’s proposal.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong informed that the government would soon fix a meeting with the HPC to further sensitize them on the stand of the government and to also listen to their point of view on the matter.

“We are waiting for the return of the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge urban affairs as we want to convene a meeting with the HPC within this month,” he added.

Tynsong said that he is not aware if the HPC has sent any communication to urban affairs with regards to the reply to the government’s proposal.

On March 16, the state government set a deadline to the HPC for submitting its reply by April 10, with regards to the proposal for relocating of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

The government had also turned down the request of the HPC to give another three months’ time to respond to the proposal.

The decision was also taken following an order of the Meghalaya High Court on February 16, asking the state government to immediately resolve the issue after the Assembly elections.

On September 29, last year the state government presented the blueprint to the HPC during a meeting, which indicated its decision to construct multi-storey flats at the existing official quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) for relocation of the 342 families.

The state government had outrightly rejected the April 25,2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.

HPC yet to reply to Govt’s relocation proposal

The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) is yet to submit its reply on the government’s proposal for relocating the 342 families of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong despite the deadline served by the government has expired today.

“Officially we have not received (the reply of the HPC) yet,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters.

He however informed that the government may invite the HPC for discussion within this week.

“I have seen in the newspaper that they are going to meet us. Maybe this week itself, we will call and again discuss with them because we have already sent to them the blueprint so it is only a matter of decision to be taken by them as from the government side we have already presented to them all the details,” Tynsong said.

On March 16, the state government set a deadline for the HPC for submitting its reply by April 10, with regards to the proposal for relocating the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

The government had also turned down the request of the HPC to give another three months’ time to respond to the proposal.

The decision was also taken following an order of the Meghalaya High Court on February 16, asking the state government to immediately resolve the issue after the Assembly elections.

On September 29, last year the state government had presented the blueprint to the HPC during a meeting, which indicated its decision to construct multi-storey flats at the existing official quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) for relocation of the 342 families.

The state government had completely rejected the April 25,2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.